stricken on the way to Sweden

[krasnoludek]

Flight to Stockholm. We got up at 5:30 in the morning to plan a little extra time for getting to the airport. You see, today transportation strikes were planned in France and the metro and busses would not be running as frequently. Well, we got to Lyon's central train station no problem, and from there you hop on the brand new train that heads out

Comments

[oxeador]

A 6 hour delay and they give you 10 euros and access to the lounge? When I was delayed for 26 hours and 35 minutes in Dulles, they gave me 5 dollars and no access to the lounge.

[krasnoludek]

the EU has better rules than the US about what compensation must occur. Also Lufthansa generally is still an airline that doesn't treat its customers very badly -- meals (sandwiches) on every flight, for example.

However, in your case, since the delay was overnight, I would have expected even a US airline to pay for your hotel room since you surely missed the last flight of the day due to the delays. In this case, most US airlines still have a Rule 240 in their contract of carriage. Just an FYI if this ever happens again, that the words "Rule 240" could help you -- a way to signal to the airline that you know your rights. I've never had to use it, but I've only been stuck overnight once and that was out of my own volition.

I, and most people, would think that you deserved a hotel covered by the airline. That's why there's a big push now by consumers for a Passenger's Bill of Rights for US airlines to abide by. Legislation has already changed the rules about tarmac delays.

[oxeador]

They told us (the passengers of all 5 international flights delayed till the next day) that they would pay us a hotel room... if we could find one, but that everything was sold in a large area. When I saw the men wearing suits giving up on finding a room, I figured I would not do better.

[krasnoludek]

ugh, that sucks. If all the hotels were booked (which is out of their control), they should have defaulted to giving people meal vouchers instead, to at least compensate for some of the major inconvenience that was caused. But that kind of substitution isn't covered in anyone's contract of carriage, as far as I know.

[once_a_banana]

I would not want to be stuck in DUS. On my first time through there, I was immediately struck by the humidity indoors (this was during the big heat wave in mid-July) and was already sweating, and then the bathroom smelled like old pee. Like pee that had been gone over many times by the cleaners already, but because of something about the materials of the bathroom, nonetheless had firmly rooted itself for a permanently broadcasting odor. But I sat right outside the door anyway, because that's where there was both a bench and a power outlet. I don't think I ever found free internet in any airport of my entire trip... (I seem to remember Oakland has it, but I was flying out of SFO). Of course, I've never visited any of these fancy "lounges" you keep talking about

DUS

[krasnoludek]

Wow, I'm surprised you had such a negative experience at DUS. I've generally had good experiences there (even before being able to access the lounges). It's always been clean when I was there and it has good food. My only objection is one you mentioned: that plugs are nearly impossible to find near the gates. However, one of the restaurants has a seating area with wooden benches that run around the perimeter of the eating area. There's plenty of plugs in them, so I once just ordered a coffee and sat there for three hours using my computer. It was at a less busy time of day, of course, so they didn't mind me occupying a table for so long.

MUC is my favorite airport for transfering in Europe, followed by AMS. Flying on Lufthansa I always opt for transfering in MUC or DUS if I can, to avoid the behemoth of FRA.

European toilets

[krasnoludek]

I'm really surprised you didn't encounter any of the two-button toilets in Europe. It's at least 70% of the toilets I encounter here, including both apartments we've stayed in and, for example, both hotels, the modern art museum and the university in Stockholm. The only exceptions I can readily think of are the toilets in my math department in Lyon and the occasional older style toilets with the water tank way above the toilet on the wall. I have encountered the toilets you talked about -- the toilet in our new apartment had that mechanism before it was replaced with the modern one because it was faulty -- but they're really not that common. Maybe more so in Poland, but I would not have guess it in most of the other places you visited on your trip